'Bright' Rangers ace wows media despite 'Bitterly Disappointing' night for country

Rangers ace Ross McCausland’s impressive cameo was to no avail in Northern Ireland’s 1-0 defeat to Bulgaria.

In their live blog of the match on 8 September, the BBC said that the “bright” McCausland, introduced in the 83rd minute, had been “asking a few questions of Bulgaria”, but was unable to find a late equaliser.

The Belfast Telegraph noted that none of McCausland nor any of his three fellow late substitutes had enough time to make a difference, in what was described as a “difficult and bitterly disappointing night.”

Belfast Live reflected this in their player ratings, awarding McCausland just a 5/10 for his cameo in a match decided by Kiril Despodov’s 40th-minute goal following a mistake by Bailey Peacock-Farrell, albeit that score being default due to his late introduction and no reflection on his performance.

Ross McCausland must earn start for Rangers and Northern Ireland

Playing the final seven minutes of a disappointing, marginal defeat is fast-becoming the story of McCausland’s career for both club and country, with starts having been scarce for the 21-year-old lately.

McCausland has started just one of the Gers’ six games in all competitions so far this season, in the second leg of their Champions League qualifier against Dynamo Kyiv – and was replaced at half-time.

His sole goal of 2024/25 came in injury time against St Johnstone in the Scottish League Cup, barely 10 minutes after he came off the bench, and the 21-year-old will be hoping for greater opportunities.

Although he only made his first-team breakthrough last season, McCausland has the potential to be one of Northern Ireland’s key attacking players, but that will only happen if his club form warrants selection.

A ‘bright’ seven-minute cameo may be enough to earn him a start in Northern Ireland’s next round of matches, and playing and contributing regularly for Rangers in the interim period has to be his target.

In other Rangers news, Hugh Keevins has given his verdict on Philippe Clement’s long-term future after the 3-0 defeat to Celtic.

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